Abstract
The Mediterranean Sea has certain characteristics that make it especially sensitive and vulnerable to changes in atmospheric CO2 and its gradual acidification. Some of the organisms that may be the first to be threatened by this impact are the cold-water corals. The few studies carried out up to date with these organisms by simulating in aquarium the acidified conditions expected for the year 2100 revealed a high variability between and within species. This chapter shows this highly variable response in the calcification of four of the most abundant cold-water coral species in the Mediterranean to low-pH conditions and their potential ecological implications.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to thank E. Calvo and C. Pelejero for their supervision throughout the experimental phase. Constructive comments by M. Carreiro-Silva and S. Hennige greatly improved this chapter. This research was supported by the European Projects HERMES (Goce-CT-2005-511234-I), HERMIONE (Grant Agreement Number 226354), the Spanish Projects CTM2009-08849/MAR and CTM2012-32017 and by the Marine Biogeochemistry and Global Change research group (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2009SGR142).
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Movilla, J. (2019). 45 A Case Study: Variability in the Calcification Response of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals to Ocean Acidification. In: Orejas, C., Jiménez, C. (eds) Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals: Past, Present and Future. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91608-8_45
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91608-8_45
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